“I love my patients … but I love myself, too!”

Dr. Nii Darko: Have you ever wanted to know what the lifestyle was like for Dr. Sanjay Gupta, or even a Dr. Oz — or even the doctors in the show “The Doctors?” I’ve always wanted to know exactly how they got to that point, I’ve always wanted to know even what the daily schedule is. And I know I’m not the only one. I’m sure you all have wondered exactly how they got to that point. I think, obviously, as physicians we know the starting point, which is medical school, and then we know the endpoint for them, which is being a TV-branded personality. But I think, just as important as understanding how they got to that point.

I’ve got a really good episode coming up for you. I’ve got a great guest for you. He’s charismatic, and he’s fun, he kept me on my toes this entire interview. But, on this episode, you’re going to hear from Dr. Draion Burch. He takes a very unique approach to his practice as a board-certified OB-GYN doc, so to speak.

Dr. Drai: Hey guys. I am Draion Burch, also known as Dr. Drai. I am a speaker, author, coach, living in my passion right now. Having fun, doing concierge medicine, living the dream.

First of all, from Xavier University, one of my buddies was this big journalist there, when I was there in undergrad. He actually contacted me when was at the university, and he said, ” Hey Drai, do you want to start writing for my news show.” He was a news producer in Atlanta. I was: “OK, yeah, fine. Whatever.” Didn’t think anything of it, it was just that I was just helping my buddy with the news.

Well, it was a really, really big show. I turned out to be a really, really big show.

Dr. Nii Darko: Which show was this?

Dr. Drai: He used to work on Sanjay Gupta’s show …

Dr. Nii Darko: OK, it sounds like you have a fork in the road that you’re facing, right? Because you on one end, you have this great job, you’re working like crazy; you’re doing everything that you wanted to do, you’re getting the crazy cases, you’re actually educating students, you’re treating an underserved population. Then, on the other hand, you have this other road that’s taking you towards something that you don’t know where it’s gonna take you, but sounds like it could be very rewarding and exciting at the same time.

Now, what are doctorpreneurs?

Dr. Drai: A doctorpreneur is basically a doctor who is living a dream outside of medicine. You’re leveraging medicine to find other ways to make money. I speak, I write books, I’ve done a little bit of everything. I actually have done consulting for shows, like NBC “The Blacklist.”

Dr. Nii Darko: Oh wow, OK.

Dr. Drai: I’m a brand ambassador so I work with Astroglide, I’m their doctor. I really, really, really lived my life to the fullest with opportunities, and what kind of revenue can I bring in because I am a doctor — and it’s endless.

Dr. Nii Darko: Now, I don’t mean to get into your pockets now, and I’m not gonna ask the situation in your pockets, but would you say that you are able to basically replace your clinical income, with what you’re doing right now?

Dr. Drai: Yeah. Yeah, mm-hmm … affirmative.

Dr. Nii Darko: That was pretty quick. You didn’t even think about it twice.

Dr. Drai: Yeah. I mean, it’s great on this side, and the thing is, when you have that time freedom, you’re more creative. You’re more creative and, when you’re more creative, you can make more streams of revenue…

Dr. Drai: Yes, yes. I am the chief doctorpreneur of Burch Media Group. Burch Media Group is a company that I founded to help doctors use their medical knowledge in order to create a lifestyle of freedom. So that is my mission and my model there. I actually coach doctors into time freedom. I call them residents. My clients are called residents.

Dr. Drai: Yeah. I am definitely an introvert, but I’m able to turn it on when it matters.

Dr. Nii Darko: Basically you’re saying there is hope for those who are really shy when the lights come on. Basically, they sweat. You help them through that.

Dr. Nii Darko: All right Dr. Drai, let’s move onto the next question. I think you just pissed everybody off. All right look, let’s get to the nitty-gritty, seriously, how can we be down? Basically, what’s your advice for other physicians, who are considering doing what you do? Tell us, how do we get down, for real?

Dr. Drai: I would say to find your passion, find whatever your passion is, and monetize it. The way you’re gonna monetize it is hire someone that knows way more than you, that will teach you how to do it. That was one of my biggest secrets, is that I actually hired a coach to help me transition. I knew what I was doing, but when it came to building a business, I did not know how to build a business, because we didn’t learn that in medical school, obviously.

Dr. Nii Darko: Not even a drop.

Dr. Drai: They didn’t teach us that in medical school, yeah. They didn’t teach us that in residency, so I was out there and I was: “Oh wow, I need to know how to build a business,” and what I was doing when I was doing media and writing books — I was doing that. I was actually building my business, my visibility, my marketing plan for my business. I had to get a product to sell to make money. I figured out, through coaching, that I am the product.